[Terry]

What are some of the best modifications that are done on a 5120?


Thanks,
Terry in Texas

[yettoblaster]

I think a lot of guys go for TV Jones Classics on English mounts. Then pickguards are popular for changing.

I played mine stock, but it was a jazz gig. The stock Gretschbuckers work fine for that.

I'm thinking now of perhaps buying a version with the DeArmond single coils (2K's, I believe they're called), but not because I don't like the 5120 as-is: it's just I'm thinking I like the 2k's better than the Dynasonics found on the Pro-line Gretsches.

[roadjunkie]

Those are 2000's which are more like Dynas the 2k's are more p-90ish! Good time to buy one the 512x series are being blown out for close to what the 5120's sell for.

As far as mods go we need more info as to what you're looking for! What music do you play? What amp are you using? TV's filters are great and maybe the closest you'll get it to the Proline series. The least expensive route is GFS.

[Terry]

I might like to change out he stock clear pickguard for a gold or silver w/logo.
But I don't want pay the $59.95 they are asking.
Are there any better deals available for the pickguards?

Thanks,
Terry

[roadjunkie]

Look around in the Electromatic section there's a email address for Paul Setzer at setzer signs. He does great work keeping it looking stock or custom.

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by yettoblaster

I played mine stock, but it was a jazz gig. The stock Gretschbuckers work fine for that.

I had the same experience with my G3161, it sounded like a Gibson.

[Jukebox]

I played around with the poles on my 3161 and found a big diff.

[GreatGretsch]

Originally Posted by Terry

I might like to change out he stock clear pick-guard for a gold or silver w/logo.
But I don't want pay the $59.95 they are asking.
Are there any better deals available for the pick-guards?

Thanks,
Terry

Hi Terry and welcome to the GreTsch-talk forum! There are a lot of great people around here and you will enjoy it.

Below is a link for your pick-guard. If you have a printer, decal paper, and some gold paint it takes only a couple of minutes to customize your pick-guard. The nice thing about this mod is that it is easily changeable to original specs or to another design.

http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/electromatic-gretsch-forum/2635-pick-guard-decal.html

As far as pickups go, the GreTsch Buckers that are in your 5120 are not for everyone, but they are very sensitive to pole adjustments. If you raise the poles a couple of turns you will hear a huge difference in tone. The ultimate tone for a lot of us here is TV Jones pickups. A good pickup that is not as pricey is the GFS pickups. The Nashvilles or Liverpools are the two that most represent TV's. They will get you in the zone of the TV Jones but are not nearly as pricey. I use the Nashvilles and I am happy with them, but in the end I will have a pair of TV Jones classics when I get the extra money.

If you go the route of GFS pickups, you can change the volume pots to push/pull pots and have the option of splitting the coils of the pickups. This a great option to have and adds many usable tones to the guitar. The pickups that are on the guitar are not splittable.

If you are heavy handed like me, I use double sided tape under the bridge to keep it from moving when using the Bigsby.

Many people change the tuners. The only issue I have with that, is there are no replacement tuners that fit exactly and I hate the idea of drilling new holes in my guitars. (Just a personal issue)

If you search the forum, you will see many cool ideas.

[Jukebox]

Welcome and don't forget the pictures!

[Pappy]

Welcome, Terry!

I have a couple of questions for you regarding the mods:

1) What kind of music do you like and are planning to play?

2) Is the Bigsby handle at a comfortable height for you?

3) How do you like your bridge?

4) What are your impressions of your guitar's tone plugged in? Too dark, too muddy, too bright, not twangy enough, etc. etc.

5) Do you like your tone control on a knob?

The 5120 is a guitar that you could literally take everything off of and put in replacements or upgrades ("upgrade" is a subjective term though) and spend al sorts of time modding, so answering these questions might make for a more focused attack on the guitar instead of a "well, I could do that because it's there" kind of approach.

Have a GREAT time modding!

[Jukebox]

Good advise Pappy! you really are getting to be the Budda of the guitar world! lol

[Pappy]

I'm trying to LOSE weight, not gain it Jukebox!

I just know that modding these can get a big out of hand and figured if you focused on what you really wanted to change instead of seeing that you can change something, it'll save you money in the end and you won't be thinking "I was perfectly satisfied before!"

[Jukebox]

Hmmm! Hmmmm!

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by Jukebox

I played around with the poles on my 3161 and found a big diff.

That's what I ended up doing with mine.

[davidgzapata]

I too could use Setzer's contact info. Does anyone have it?

David

[Jukebox]

PM sent to you david!

[Pappy]

Shucks! I was hoping to hear what came of this!

[bobframe]

Originally Posted by Jukebox

I played around with the poles on my 3161 and found a big diff.

you're gonna go blind if you keep that up...

[Jukebox]

Speak louder ,I can't read you!

[Ryder]

Hi all,
I was reading this thread and remembered another similar thread in a different forum site about guitars.

"Lowering the pickups tends to smooth out the tone makes it "cleaner". Raising pole pieces makes them brighter. It worked great for removing the "mud" from the Gretschbuckers folks complain about. I didn't think they were muddy, but they did have a rather generic sound. Fiddling with them brought out the unique character of the 5120. It was about a month of trial and error before I found the sweet spot. Too high on the pole pieces and it tends to take the balls out of the tone. Additionally, too low on the pups and they will be too quiet."

I'm waiting for a 5122 to arrive this week.